Family Ties
by Yakko Warner's twin
Summary: Random Thigns I wrote in school/acting campe staring the Scotts. Rated "T" just in case


Family Ties

By. Screw Kettletree

Disclaimer: I own no one and nothing except Nicole Scott, Galexa Majain, and Claudia Cook

Summery; Some short drabbles focusing on Nicky and Scotty's relationship as big brother and little sister. I will do as many drabbles as I can write in one day.

Drabble 1. Bruise

Nicky winced as the cool, dampened cloth was pressed against the side of her head.

"Now just hold that right there," Bones instructed. He removed his hand as Nicky lifted her own hand to keep the cloth in place.

"There, the swelling should go down in no time." The doctor leaned back on his heels, smiling first at her then the others gathered around in concern.

"Yew're sure?" Nicky asked around the dull pain. Her head was still throbbing, and she could swear the bruise was growing.

"Yep! No problems at all!"

"But, doctor, what if that wrench gave her a concussion?" Galexa's voice broke through from somewhere behind her head.

Claudia knelt beside her and thrust her hand up before her eyes.

"How many fingers am I holding up, sweet pea?" Nicky blinked and squinted.

"Well, um…"

"Oh, stop it, guys!" Scotty reached down to bat Claudia's hand away. "Seh's fine. It's jus' a little bruise. But, Nicole, the next time I tell yew te catch somethin', use yer hands and nae yer head!"

"I'll keep tha' in mind, Montgomery," the woman muttered, darkly

Drabble 2: Splinter

Ouch!" Scotty yelped, jerking his foot away. But Nicky held him captive in a firm grip.

"Fer the last time, Monty, stay still! I can' ge' at it if yew're rolling all over teh place!"

Scotty tried to do as he was told, wincing as the sharp tip of a needle jabbed at his skin once again.

"Gawd, it's in deep," Nicky murmured. "No doubt infected, too."

The needle was replaced by the dull points of tweezers, digging even deeper in the sole of his foot. Scotty pressed his arm against his mouth to muffle his cries, hoping no one outside Nicky's room could hear him.

It was bad enough having a splinter removed. He didn't need an audience of gawking lutenets and ensigns watching him squirm and gasp with every poke.

"Oh, crap, it is infected." A cloth dabbed lightly at the wound. "Montgomery, jus' how in gawd's name did ye manage te walk on this all day?"

Scotty could only shrug a shoulder. In truth, it hadn't been an easy task. Every time he applied any pressure on his leg, whether walking or merely standing, his aching foot would flare up in protest. He still couldn't believe he had a splinter. Sure he'd made a rough landing in that pile of wood chips, but how could one have pierced right through his shoe to leave a splinter in his foot? A bruise, maybe, but a splinter?

It wasn't at all logical!

And that's the only excuse Scotty had for attempting to ignore the smarting sensations. He'd managed to hide his discomfort from everyone else for a while, until his grimaces and limping finally caught the sharp eyes of his baby sister.

So here he was, lying on his stomach with his leg bent up and his foot held firmly between Nicole Scott's knees as she picked at the splinter.

"There!" Nicky announced, triumphantly. "Go' it out!"

Scotty twisted his body to glance over his shoulder. Nicky bent down to show him the thin splinter, held tightly between the pair of tweezers. He stared at it, unsure.

"Tha's it?" He questioned.

How could such a tiny thing have caused so much trouble?

Nicky chuckled as she tossed the splinter aside and returned to examining Scotty's foot.

"Lay back down, I'm nae through yet. We need te ge' rid of all this pus. Then I want ye te soak teh foot in warm water and bath salts and stay off it fer the rest of teh day. Understood?"

Scotty opened his mouth, but his answer turned into yet another cry as Nicky squeezed his foot, her thumbs pressing hard against the open wound. Scotty bit his lip and pressed his face into his arms.

He'd never take splinters for granted ever again.

Drabble 3: Fever

Scotty squinted at the straight, slender object held before him, his cloudy mind barely registering its use.

"Open," Nurse Cook commanded, pressing the thing into his mouth before he could comprehend the order. The slender glass felt cool and foreign under his tongue; tiny. He wondered momentarily as he closed his lips around the object if he could possibly snap it in two.

"Don't bite it," Claudia warned him, as though having read his thoughts. "Just hold it. I need a precise reading." Bobble obeyed, trying to hold the uncomfortable instrument still despite the giddiness he felt.

Thermometers were rarely used anymore. Thermometers were 20th-century made instruments, necessary for all the different ages that plagued the mortal race. Now people rarely had fevers that bad. Feelings of malaise were quickly spotted and easily handled without the use of such medical paraphernalia. A simple touch to the forehead or neck was enough to pick up the beginnings of a fever.

So the fact that Bones had resorted to using a thermometer to gage Scotty's fever meant nothing good.

Chills wracked at Scotty's frame. A steady arm slipped around his shoulders, carefully drawing him back into a warm, delicate frame. Scotty gratefully let his head fall against Nicky's chest, feeling his sister rub his arm. He'd been shivering nearly all day, but the sudden increase in his chills had nothing to do with his fever.

Waking up to a dizzying sensation had been curious, but not frightening. Shivering despite the natural warmth of the Engineering room had caused minor discomfort, but not alarm. Nearly fainting while Nicky scolded him about being so sluggish in his work, then having to catch him and drag him to Sick Bay had been embarrassing, but only in a bothersome sort of way. Even hearing Nicky exclaim that he was burning up when she pressed a hand to his forehead only caused a small bit of dread, just a wee bit.

The thermometer currently held between his lips was scaring him to death.

If a simple hand pressed against his forehead wasn't enough to gage the fever, he cringed at the reading a thermometer would show.

He was trying to convince his foggy thoughts that he couldn't possibly be that sick, when Claudia suddenly plucked the instrument from his mouth. He forced his eyes open to watch her study the markings on one side, her eyebrows puckered together.

"Good God!" She finally exclaimed. "Oh, sweetheart!"

Scotty only moaned as he closed his eyes again.

Thermometers were omens of doom.

Drabble 4:Drowning

**First Aid Training Tips: When in the midst of drowning, make all attempts to not panic or struggle. Endeavor to float and keep head above water until help arrives.**

_Don' panic. Don' struggle. _Nicky's mind repeated these tidbits of information over and over even as her arms rebelled and flailed fruitlessly against the surrounding water. The water, calm and gentle as it had seemed from the surface, wickedly oppressed her from all sides as it sought to keep her down by any means possible. Clothing, hair, tools…all joined forces to drag her deeper into the darkened water.

_Don' panic…don' panic_…

Now, what did that bubbly first aid instructor say to do if your leg was wedged between a rock and a beam underwater? Oh, that's right. Nothing!

Because things of such nature only occurred to the likes of Nicole Scott.

_Don' panic…don' panic…_

It certainly put a damper upon the whole floating concept. Nicky kicked with her free leg, trying to create enough motion to pull free. If she could just get loose, the water would let her float up towards the surface…

The beam held her firmly, yet another foe in the attempt to steal her breath.

Shadows flitted above the water, reminiscent of humans or humanoids. Surely someone had noticed her predicament? Who could possibly have missed the act that launched both her and the beam into the water? Surely someone noticed that she couldn't get free!

Nicky's lungs burned, begging her for air...NOW!

_Don' panic don' panic don' panic don' panic don' panic…_

The water exploded, sending up a blanket of bubbles to block her sight. Nicky gasped, unwittingly taking a breath of the cold water and sending his consciousness headlong into a fog of its own…

Drabble 5: Kiss of Life/Drowning 2

Nicky was dimly aware of someone pounding her just below the chest.

"1,2,3…now!"

The pounding stopped…a hand squeezed her nose closed…a rush of air filled her mouth…

"It's nae workin'!"

"Nicky! Breathe!"

"Again!" The pounding started once more. "1,2,3…!"

A firm thrust on her sternum, and water raced up her throat to explode from her mouth. All at once, Nicky was choking up water; choking, but breathing.

"Seh's breathing! Seh's breathing!"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Eager hands helped turn the engineer on her side as she continued coughing up the clear liquid.

"Nicole? Lil' sis, are yew alright?"

Nicky breathed deeply for a moment, searching for an answer. A vague memory rose instead before her mind, of something soft pressing against her mouth…

Heat rushed across her cheeks as realization dawned on her. Surely not…she lifted her eyes to the hazy faces of the concerned crew, and her brother bending over her.

"I…uh…"

"What? What is it?" The crew all leaned in closer, eager to hear the first words of the newly revived engineer.

"Did mah brother…I mean…was Montgomery…kissing meh…a moment ago…?"

Peals of laughter and a tight hug were the blushing engineer's only answers.

Drabble6: Cold

"Aaaacchhhoooo!"

"Whoa!" Nicky jumped from her seat/makeshift bed, whipping her head towards the bed. "Was tha' ye, or did thunder strike something?" The younger Scott giggled and covered her mouth.

Scotty wiped his nose on a handkerchief, balled it up, and dropped it on the nasty pile of used ones beside his bed.

"Hush up, ye bellowing blockhead," he muttered. "Hand meh another one."

"Here ye go!"

Three handkerchiefs sailed across the room to land on Scotty's chest and lap. Scotty plucked up one to clutch in his hand and burrowed deeper into his nest of blankets, which had grown by four in addition to his normal blanket. One, he suspected, was Nicky's own blanket that had made an appearance sometime during the previous night. But Scotty was too miserable to debate the matter.

As if his baby sister nearly drowning wasn't bad enough, he had to go and a catch a nasty cold. His head felt heavy, and his back and legs ached. His eyes were red, his nose raw, his throat so sore he could hardly swallow, he went from being too hot to too cold and back again, and the next person that made him drink that damn tea was going to find his hammer in their…

"Wan' some more tea?"

Scotty groaned loudly, turning his head away from Nicky and the offending, steaming mug.

He hated being sick.

"Monty?"

"No, Nicole. I do nae want anymore tea! Or cough medicine, or chest poultices, or throat lozenges, or…or blankets for that matter!" He kicked the offending objects to the end of the bed to prove his point. "What I want is te be up out of this bed, out of this room, and in the middle of…"

The tickle in his throat he'd been trying to ignore suddenly made itself known through a series of hacking coughs. Bobble flailed to sit up, settling for grasping one side of the bed and letting his head hang off the edge while the coughing continued. He felt the bed sink as Nicky sat down and began thumping him on the back. He could have moaned in misery if he wasn't so preoccupied with trying to breathe.

Oh, by god, he hated being sick!

The coughing winded down after a few minutes, and an exhausted Scotty dropped his head against the mattress, letting his arm dangle off the side. Nicky went from thumping to rubbing his back, making soft sounds of compassion. Scotty allowed himself to be eased onto his back, too tired to fight as all five blankets were tucked around him once more and a spoonful of sickly sweet cough syrup was administered by his all-too-cheery little sister.

"Tea?" Nicky questioned.

Scotty sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Aye, Nicky. I'd…_love_…some tea."

He really should have just have left Nicky to drown.


End file.
